First Assignment- Racism vs. Racialism

Part I: The selections
I thought that a good way to jump start this would be to discuss racial relations, and to see if there is any comparison between what the US experiences and what is present in the EU today.

First, let's define some terms; read this article, which discusses the role of race in America's recent presidential election. Note the difference between racism and racialism, and figure out which is more alive in the USA today.
Racialism vs. Racism in Obama's election

To further illustrate this point, read this article about the portrayal of blacks in American movies. Note that this is an example of racialism that is arguably alive and well in the US today.
Visions of Black-White friendship

Listen to the following Bob Dylan song, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", and you can find the lyrics here.

Examine the following online photographic exhibit.
The Roma in Central and Eastern Europe

(If you've got some extra time and feel like it, I highly recommend you listen to the following This American Life podcast, courtesy of npr.org.)

Part II. Words to know
racism, racialism, underlying, yesteryear, amity, socioeconomic, ghetto, stereotypical, amoral, idolator, overarching, vexation

Part III. Questions
1. According to the articles you read, the problem in America today is not racism but racialism. What are the main complaints of Benjamin Mott's article, "Visions of Black-White Friendship," and the article about the Times headline after Obama's election? Give me quotes. Do you believe that this is a valid complain? Why or why not?
2. Go to wikipedia.org, and search for "african americans." Now search for "roma." What do you notice? Do you think this is signficant-- why or why not?
3. Is racialism a problem in Slovakia? Explain, and give me at least two examples.

The ground rules

I will post your assignments in three parts: I. Readings, II. Vocabulary, III. Discussion. While I will not be giving a metric ton of work to do, I would ask that you spend time with each selection and consider it thoughtfully. Read through the vocabulary, and determine how it is being used in the articles. Finally, remember that the discussion portion is all that demands a response.

There is no need to set up an account. To respond, simply click on the link marked "comments" at the bottom of each post. Type your response into the comment box, then click where it says "post as" and select "name and URL." Simply type your name into the box and submit the comment. I suppose as a worst case scenario you can simply email your responses to jonberkbratislava@gmail.com.

At the end of each week, on Monday, I will close the discussion and then respond to each of your comments in an email.

If you have any problems, please feel free to contact me at any time.

>>Jonathan